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Sunday, December 14, 2014

Preschool Science: Water!

We had a blast last week exploring all things water and ice! I think next year, I will have to expand this topic for at least another week, we did so much and there is still so much left to discover!

We started the week off with an Absorb/Repel Exploration Station, inspired by Little Bins for Little Hands. I set up a variety of items including foil, foam, a sponge, a tissue, a cloth napkin, a plastic bag, a wooden block, a plastic block, parchment paper, construction paper and bubble wrap. I secured everything to the table and gave the children a bowl of water and a pipette and the testing began.

As they tested, we used the words ABSORB and REPEL. Bear was surprised that the parchment paper repelled at first, but after a while, absorbed the water he had put on it earlier. He kept testing and testing, just to be sure it would happen every time.

After all of our testing was complete, we documented our findings in our science journals.

To further demonstrate absorption, we built sugar cube towers and added some water and food coloring. Then we watched.

I think I got a bit excited about the rapid absorption and we ended up with a puddle.

But then we added a new word to our science adventures: DISSOLVE!!

The second time around, I was a bit more conservative and our towers stayed upright.

It took a loooooooong time, but that color did finally make its way up to the second cube.

Later in the week, we had a Float/Sink Exploration Station.

I used a few fun holiday items we had around the classroom as well as a penny, rock, marble, plastic lid, wooden bead, plastic shape cutter, etc. Anything would work as long as there is a balance of items that will sink and float.